Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit on Thursday with commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after taking fire from insurgents who have seized northern cities.
Witnes

French police shot and wounded a man claiming to be a member of al Qaeda on Wednesday after he took four hostages in a bank in the southwestern city of Toulouse, two police sources said.
The hostage-taker was shot in the leg when he emerge